Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

A study used the NLSY to determine the labor market consequences for young people of acquiring a General Educational Development (GED) degree in 1985. Three major consequences of receiving a GED were examined: labor force participation, employment status, and hourly wages. The analysis showed that GED recipients had greater chances of being labor force participants than young people without GEDs or high school diplomas. High school graduates were more likely to be participants than were GED recipients. Moreover, the more time that elapsed after obtaining a GED or a high school diploma, the greater the chance that a youth was a labor force participant. As was observed with labor force participation, the chances of being employed were much greater in 1985 for young high school graduates than for GED recipients or youths with neither a GED nor a high school diploma. Interpretation of annual salaries from hourly wages indicated that the typical GED recipient would have
earned in 1985 about $780 more than a youth without a GED or diploma, but $1,340 less than a youth with a high school diploma. Further research is needed to determine what the GED means to employers, to GED recipients and aspirants, and to the general public. [ERIC ED291894]

Bibliography Citation

Passmore, David L. "Employment of Young GED Recipients." GED Research Brief No 14, American Council on Education, Washington, DC: GED Testing Service, 1987.

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY97) is the most recent in a series of U.S. Department of Labor longitudinal studies on the labor market behavior and educational experience of youth who transition from school to work and from adolescence to adulthood. By 2008, in the latest round of the NLSY97 data that is currently available, the respondents were aged 24 to 28. Our findings are based on analyses of these data.

Bibliography Citation

Song, Wei and Margaret Becker Patterson. "Key Labor Market Findings from Young GED Credential Recipients in the 21st Century: A Snapshot from NLSY97." Research Brief 2011-1, American Council on Education, Washington, DC: GED Testing Service, January 2011.

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Ever since achieving a high school credential by passing the GED Tests became widely institutionalized through the adult education programs in the United States, the outcomes for GED credential recipients have continued to be of great interest to the adult education community and the general public. Does earning a GED credential bring positive life changes to the adults who did not complete a high school education? Does obtaining a GED credential help the recipients find better employment opportunities and earn higher wages? Among the studies on labor market outcomes of GED credential recipients, the most influential was the 1993 study by Cameron and Heckman, which was based on the NLSY79 data and argued that GED credential recipients are “nonequivalence of high school equivalents,” and that they are “indistinguishable in many relevant labor market dimensions” from uncredentialed high school dropouts.

Now, almost two decades after the Cameron and Heckman study, has anything changed with a new generation of American youth? Based on a new wave of NLSY data (NLSY97), this paper aims to examine how GED credential recipients compare with other young adults who had not completed a high school education and with traditional high school graduates on their labor market performance.

The study found that GED credential recipients’ hourly compensation on their most recent job is much higher than that of the high school dropouts and is closer to that of the high school graduates, both of which are in the $14 range. For GED credential recipients and high school graduates at five years or more after obtaining their credential or diploma, the hourly wages are about the same, around $15. In terms of work hours, wage income, family income, and poverty ratio, GED credential recipients seem to fall between high school dropouts and high school graduates. The study also looked into job satisfaction, employer size, fringe benefits, industry, and occupation.

The study then uses multiple regressions to assess the impact of educational status on hourly compensation and hours of work for the NLSY97 members who did not pursue postsecondary education. After controlling for individual demographic, ability, work experience, and employer industry, GED credential recipients’ hourly wages on average could be 6.7 to 9.3 percent higher than those of high school dropouts, while the high school graduates’ hourly wages could be 6.2 to 6.7 percent higher than those of GED credential recipients. GED credential recipients’ annual hours could also be 120 hours (approximately 11 percent) longer than those of high school dropouts, while high school graduates’ work hours could be 120 to180 hours (approximately 10 to 15 percent) longer than those of GED credential recipients.

Finally, this paper discusses the findings from earlier sections and suggests policy implications and future research studies.

Bibliography Citation

Song, Wei and Margaret Becker Patterson. "Young GED Credential Recipients in the 21st Century: A Snapshot from NLSY97." Working Paper, American Council on Education, Washington, DC: GED Testing Service, January 2011.